International). IN MEXICO, a demonstration of more than 10,000 people was held in the center of Mexico City on October 3 in solidarity with the victims of Francoist terror. This demonstration was especially remarkable in that two
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SPAIN SOLIDARITY hours before it occurred (and after it had received support from all the reformist cireles) a rumor went around that the action had been banned, which demobilized tens of thousands of potential participants. But the determination of the revolutionaries to go ahead with the march anyway forced the reformists to join the demonstration despite the orders of their leaders. Of the 10,000 demonstrators, the largest contingent was the more than 3,000 people organized under the united initiative of the Grupo Comunista Internacionalista (Internationalist Communist Group) and the Liga Socialista (Socialist League), the two sympathizing organizations of the Fourth International in Mexico. Then came the contingent of Spanish republican emigrés in Mexico, the contingent of workers from Spicer, a striking factory in the suburbs of Mexico City, the contingents of the CP and the teachers union of the university, and finally the contingents of other political groups and independents. IN CANADA, protest demonstrations against the execuFion of the five political prisoners drew more than a thousand people in Montréal, 400 in Québec City, and 300 in Toronto. IN AUSTRIA, the announcement of the executions was met by demonstrations and a partial occupation of the Spanish Embassy in Vienna, organized by the far left. On October 2 some 7, 000 people turned out for a demonstration called by all the currents participating in an Action Committee: the Young Socialists, trade unions, the Communist party, and the far left. It should be noted that the for left had been expelled from the committee on the eve of the demonstration. About a third of the demonstrators tried to occupy the offices of Iberian airlines and clashed with the police. During the days that preceded the elections a press campaign was launched against the Gruppe Revolutiondre Marxisten (Revolutionary Marxist Group), the Austrian Trotskyists, accusing them of trying to foment violence. But the aim of the demonstrators was not at all to fight the police, but rather to denounce the representatives of Francoism. The following week there were demonstrations in Innsbrück (organized by the GRM and the Maoists) and in Salzburg (organized by the CP and the far leff). IN BELGIUM, the Ligue Révolutionnaire des Travailleurs (LRT - Revolutionary Workers League), Belgian section of the Fourth International, issued a standing call for demonstrations to take place as soon as the death sentences were confirmed. This call got a broad response, particularly in Brussels. A front was established between the Maoists and the LRT and there was a demonstration of about 300. The ground floor of the Spanish Embassy was occupied and destroyed and the offices of Iberian airlines were sacked. The police attacked toward the end of the demonstration. The Communist and Socialist parties did not participate in these actions. About 1, 000 people demonstrated in Liège at the call of the workers 14 organizations. On September 27, after the executions, there were new demonstrations in Brussels, some 4,000 marching against the Spanish tourist office and the Banco Español. The workers of Sabena (the Belgian airlines) boycotted flights to Spain, and the dockers in the port of Antwerp refused to load ships going to Spain for several days. Many of the actions held on September 27 were led by the FTB and the CSC, the two national trade-union federations. The solidarity movement was broadly followed by the teachers and the metalworkers. IN ICELAND, the workers movement and the left organizatiors responded actively to the confirmation of the death sentences against the five militants. On September 27 a demonstration in Reykjavik drew about 1, 000 people (the city has a total population of about 50, 000). It was sponsored by the Fylkingen (a Trotskyist organization), three Maoist organizations, the People's Alliance (Social Democratic), and several student organizations. The Fylkingen also held four meetings in high schools and at the university. IN AUSTRALIA, there was a demonstration of about 250 people in Sydney called by the Spanish Communist party and supported by various Australian organizations including the CP and the Communist League, sympathizing organization of the Fourth International.
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